I have gone from seeds to suet only because the Brown-headed Cowbirds cannot cling and thus do not eat the suet, though I’m sure they would if they could. So I have left the suet feeders up. Most of the rest of the birds will eat suet. Suet — other than insects — is the only food that bluebirds and robins will eat.
I know it’s spring because the bluebirds are back. They are such pretty little birds and they are always welcome.
They are a shade of blue that seems a bit unreal. It’s not turquoise, but it has a hint of green in it, perhaps like Kingman turquoise. I know that there aren’t a lot of places where you can still find bluebirds. They used to be common in gardens and woodland, but we keep finding yet one more reason to cut down the trees. With each cutting, there are fewer birds.
I’m sure it is no one’s intention to kill off our birds, but they are doing it anyway, with a kind of cavalier attitude summed up by “Hey, it’s just birds.” And we are just people.
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Categories: #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, Blackstone Valley, bluebirds
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
We are getting robins and starlings. Sparrows and cardinals always seem to be around. The Cardinals really stand out when there is snow. I am not sure where all the rest go when we have freezing weather. It is more likely I will hear woodpeckers before I can ever spot them. They are so small it is almost impossible to get their picture.
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You must have the downy woodpeckers because the others are NOT small, but the downy is a little bitty guy, though he looks exactly like the big ones. If you aren’t seeing them but ARE hearing them, they may be a lot bigger than you think because the little ones don’t make nearly as much noise. The question is: whare ARE they? Often they prefer nesting relatively high in trees and they hide their nests so you WON’T see them. Also, woodpeckers spend a full year raising their babies and are very protective.
According to the bird list, you’ve got the same woodpeckers we have: Downy, hairy, red-bellied, and pileated are year-round residents in Illinois. Northern flickers and red-headed woodpeckers are migratory, but individuals of both can be found in Illinois even in the winter. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are also migratory (we only get the red-bellied sapsuckers — otherwise they are identical and frankly, it is very hard to tell the difference). Flickers and Sapsuckers are woodpeckers too. If you ever by some piece of birding luck manage to see a true red-headed woodpecker (entirely red head, not a cap), let me know. I’ve never seen one and am not sure if they live around here. We’ve seen all the others and some live in our backyard. They ALL come to eat the suet which is a woodpecker favorite. While they will eat seeds, they prefer bugs.
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With so many trees around it is sometimes hard to follow the sound to find the woodpecker, Whenever I have tracked one down, it is usually small and pretty high up. They are always too far up to get a clear picture with my phone.
Birds are now starting to run around the yard looking for bugs but I think it is too early to find very much.
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They may be bigger than you think, just very high in the branches. If they look kind of like a checkerboard — sort of black & white stripey with or without a big red splotch on their head (the boys have the red, the girls don’t), it’s either a hairy or downy woodpecker. The downy is less than half the size of the hairy, but otherwise they are the same. They do love being high in the tree. They nest lower here because we give them food and they like being near food EVEN more than being high up.
We had a very infested tree old tree. ALL the woodpeckers came to eat those yummy bugs. But the tree was pretty sickly and I didn’t think it would make it through the winter — and it was right above our deck. We took it down before it took itself down. I miss it. The birds miss it. It was a beech and as old as beech trees get. We left the trunk on the ground in the woods so the critters can nest there. It not only lost a lot of birds and squirrels their nests, but it also eliminated the shade from our deck. Amazing these days to have a tree die naturally and not be killed by people for some stupid human reason.
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The bugs and the woodpeckers have worked over the tree in front of the house. I am afraid we may lose some large branches this year. It’s a silver maple and likely over 100 years old. The house was built in 1912 and the trees front and back are bigger than the house. Birds can get pretty high up.
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We had to finally hire a tree guy. You probably should get the branches that seem fragile removed before they fall on you or your car or a friend. I resisted for a long time because I really loved that tree — and I loved that the birds and squirrels all nested in it. But I’m also very glad I took it down. It was going to fall — and THAT would have been very messy. And expensive.
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The tree in back of the house was trimmed a few years ago and bad branches removed. The one in front is political. Anything between the sidewalk and the street technically is the city’s responsibility because it is on the “parkway.” They do trim them if the spot a problem. I could report it and see if they come out to fix it in my lifetime.
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We’ve never gotten them to come here, either. They always say yes, but they never show up.
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We get them here. Call ’em Mountain Bluebirds. Very beautiful.
It’s a special day when I see one. But I’ve never photoed one.
Think I’m fix that this year.
Nice shots Marilyn.
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Yes, they are a different species — actually called exactly that — Mountain Bluebirds. The ones we have were the first ones “named,” so they got “Bluebirds.” I think there are two (maybe three) other very similar (cousins) living in the mid-west and far west, including Canada. They are all this wonderful shade of blue, though with slightly different markings. They are all 100% insectivores — like Robins (UNrelated). These are the birds who will take care of your garden and lawn if you don’t use poisons. The Robins come every year and eat a full lawnful of grubs while getting fat and happy.
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Are they solid blue or blue with an orange belly? The solid blue ones are Mountain bluebirds. The ones with an orange chest are Western bluebirds — VERY similar to our blue birds. Where you live, you might easily get both kinds. The mountain bluebirds are really gorgeous with almost silver blue in their wings.
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Beautiful little birds 💙
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They are beautiful and very sweet singers, too.
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